Browsers and other applications provide convenient tools for viewing information provided from various information sources. For instance, a user may utilize a browser in order to view web pages, the content of which may be provided by a third party web server or by a system of the user's own organization. In many cases, content provided by information sources is static. In such instances, requests are made to information sources and the information sources usually provide content responsive to the requests, such as the content of a web page. Once content responsive to the requests is sent by an information source, generally additional content is not sent unless another request is made pursuant to user input that indicates a desire to make another request, such as user selection of a “refresh” button in a browser. As a concrete example, a user may select a hyperlink to a news article. The user's browser requests the news article, receives the article, and displays the article to the user. The news article is not updated at the user's device unless the user provides appropriate input, such as by selecting a “refresh” button.
In many cases, however, content provided by information sources is dynamic. In such instances, a user may request content from an information source and the information source may send updated information several times, perhaps indefinitely. A browser, or other application, may receive user input that indicates a desire to request content and, once the content is received, the browser or other application may periodically request updated content. As an example, a user may use a browser to view the current price of stocks in his or her portfolio. Web pages that display stock prices are often configured such that the user's browser periodically requests updates of the stock prices without the user having to provide additional input, such as selection of a “refresh” button of the browser. In this manner, the user is provided current prices with little effort on behalf of the user.
A computing device's communication with a network, however, can be interrupted for various reasons. A digital subscriber line (DSL) or cable modem, for instance, may malfunction. The computing device itself may malfunction. A server or other information source may experience a temporary outage whereby it temporarily does not respond to requests or may not be able to communicate with another server that provides content necessary for responding to requests. Such interrupted communication can be problematic for dynamic content. For instance, a web page configured to automatically refresh or otherwise request updated content may cease requesting updated content if one of its requests is unsuccessful. Typically, the updating of dynamic content ceases whenever communication with a network is interrupted and content is not updated absent user intervention, such as by selecting a “refresh” button of a browser.
Modern browsers and other applications provide ways for users to have simultaneous access to multiple information sources, many of which may provide content dynamically. Users, for instance, may open several instances of a browser in order to simultaneously have access to multiple web pages. Many browsers include a tab feature where a single instance of a browser may be used to simultaneously have access to content of multiple web pages. A user may select corresponding tabs displayed in connection with the browser in order to cause display of corresponding content that has been received by the user's computing device. Because of the ease with which multiple information sources can be accessed simultaneously, users at any given time may have simultaneous access to multiple information sources. However, if a user's device experiences interrupted communication with a network, the user may have to manually update content for dynamic content that has stopped being updated due to the interrupted communication. If a user uses the aforementioned tools of browsers and other applications in order to have simultaneous access to multiple instances of content, manually updating content can be quite burdensome.